Oxygen shortage: Delhi hospitals cry for help
Battling an acute shortage of oxygen, some hospitals in Delhi on Sunday sent out desperate SOS calls to authorities to replenish their dwindling stocks, with one healthcare facility even requesting the government to shift out its patients. Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital in Malviya Nagar, Aakash Healthcare in Dwarka, Vimhans Hospital in South Delhi, and others were all found pleading for help on social media.
A children's hospital started refusing admissions due to shortage
Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital on Sunday sounded an alarm about their depleting stocks around noon, saying 50 people, including four newborns, were at risk. Later, at night, the hospital said it will not make admissions that require oxygen or ventilation support. It requires around 125 oxygen cylinders a day. It doesn't have an oxygen storage tank and depends on oxygen cylinders from private vendors.
It was a struggle for most Delhi hospitals
Aakash Healthcare appealed to government authorities to shift patients to other facilities so that they can be saved. Meanwhile, in the evening, Yateesh Wahaal, CEO of Vimhans Hospital, requested urgent support to save lives. He said, "The supplier doesn't have stock for the next seven days to meet our requirement. Around 135 patients are on oxygen support. Of these, 94 are in the ICU."
Delhi hospitals took to social media to seek help
Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research took to social media seeking help from authorities. The Hakim Abdul Hamid Centenary Hospital, where 110 patients are admitted, sounded an alarm about depleting oxygen around 2 pm. An oxygen tanker reached the facility around 6 pm. Dr. Deepali Gupta from Triton Hospital in Kalkaji said they have been struggling to arrange oxygen for their neonatal ICU.
South Delhi's Batra Hospital reported 12 deaths on Saturday
An official of MD City Hospital in Model Town said around 4:30 pm it had exhausted its liquid medical oxygen stock and was using the backup, endangering the lives of 140 patients. On Saturday, 12 COVID-19 patients, including a senior doctor, had died at South Delhi's Batra Hospital after the facility ran out of medical oxygen for around 80 minutes in the afternoon.
BLK Hospital to install oxygen generator
Meanwhile, the BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital announced the installation of an oxygen generator and a high-pressure cylinder filling system which will provide around 15 percent additional back-up to the existing medical oxygen demand at the hospital in the form of a continuous feed.
Delhi demanding the allotted 490 MT of oxygen from Centre
The Delhi government has been demanding 976 metric tonnes of oxygen from the Centre against the existing allotted 490 MT quota. On Friday, the city administration received just 312 MT, an official said. Delhi had received 305 MT on April 25, followed by 408 MT on April 26, 398 MT on April 27, 431 MT on April 28, and 409 MT on April 29.
